Page 119 of Texas Glory
Austin turned his head and smiled at the boy. “You done good, Rawley. You just leave the rest to me.”
Two hours later Austin swaggered into the saloon. The smoke was thick, the noise thicker. He slapped a nickel on the counter and eyed his quarry. “Beer.”
He took the glass and downed the bitter brew in one swallow. He was the youngest, the baby, the one everyone else always watched out for.
Not this time.
He removed his gun from the holster, took careful aim, and fired a bullet in the wall of the saloon … just above Boyd McQueen’s head.
Boyd tipped over in his chair and hit the floor with a resounding thud. He came up sputtering.
Austin couldn’t believe the calmness that settled over him as he strode across the room. Men jumped out of his way. Men who had been sitting at Boyd’s table hastened to move to other tables.
Austin planted his hands on the table and glowered at Boyd. “I know the truth—everything. You stay away from me, mine, and anyone I consider mine or my next bullet goes through your heart.”
He spun on his heel.
“You don’t have the guts to kill,” Boyd taunted.
Austin slowly turned and faced his adversary. “Mark my words, McQueen. Nothing would bring me greater pleasure than to rid the ground of your shadow.”
Spring came as though winter had held no sorrow, blanketing the earth in an abundance of assorted reds, yellows, and greens.
Cordelia sat on the front porch of Amelia’s house, watching as Amelia nursed Laurel Joy. The child kicked her chubby arms and legs in rhythm to her sucking mouth. Cordelia did not resent that Amelia held the child to her breast, but she could not help but ache for the children she would never nourish.
Cordelia turned her attention to a lean-to where the men and Rawley were working to help a mare deliver a foal. Always births would abound. Always the pain inside her would deepen, for what she could not have, for what she could not give Dallas.
“You look as though you have something on your mind,” Amelia said.
Cordelia averted her gaze from those she loved. She gnawed on her lower lip. “You told me that you and Dallas had acquired an annulment. How did you go about it?”
Amelia shifted Laurel to her shoulder, buttoned her blouse, and studied her as though trying to understand the reason behind the question. “It was really rather simple. We never consummated our marriage.”
“Oh.” Cordelia felt her heart sink. “That wouldn’t work for us, would it?”
“No, you were obviously intimate at one time.”
At one time.Dallas hadn’t come to her bed since the afternoon they’d shared in the hotel. He watched her with wariness as though he wasn’t quite certain what to do with her.
“Then what would a woman do if she no longer wanted to be married?” Cordelia asked.
“Have you talked with Dallas about this?”
“No, we don’t talk at all anymore. We are more like strangers now than we were before we got married.”
“He’s hurting—”
“So am I. But I can end his hurting.”
Laurel Joy burped and Amelia scooted up in her chair. “How?”
“By leaving him. By giving him the opportunity to marry someone who can give him a son.”
Amelia shook her head. “I don’t think he wants that, Dee. When you were losing the baby, he begged me not to let him lose you, too.”
“Words easily spoken—”
“Not for Dallas. He’s never been one to speak what he feels.”
